You’re right that well timed content is the key. As a salesperson, I find that I’m most successful when I talk about the potential client’s needs and providing valuable insights to them without directly selling my services. As a marketer, I find the most effective approach is to promote valuable content and build authority that way. Rand Fishkin said at one point “pimp your content not your products” and I think that statement is proving to be true in more contexts.

I’m looking forward to reading the whitepaper over the weekend.

Mike Montali

]]>By: Mike Collinshttps://blog.hootsuite.com/social-selling-in-b2b-sales-4/#comment-208133
Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:50:04 +0000http://blog.hootsuite.com/?p=39019#comment-208133I’m new to social media but even with my limited knowledge I have to agree that self promotion is not the reason to get involved. My mentor (@pennine_publishing) has strongly advised me to create useful content, spend some time walking in your customers shoes and then create great content for them.
]]>By: Matt Foulgerhttps://blog.hootsuite.com/social-selling-in-b2b-sales-4/#comment-207025
Mon, 11 Mar 2013 23:55:38 +0000http://blog.hootsuite.com/?p=39019#comment-207025You’re right, Alice. Excessive self-promotion gets really old, really fast. I would recommend that all professionals trying to build a reputation on social media take a close look at how well their messages are resonating with followers. If nobody is clicking on your links, you’re probably not providing much value, and just plugging up their timelines. Quality is almost always better than quantity, so people should focus on WHAT they tweet and WHEN their tweets make the most impact instead of just blasting content through a fire hose. Alice, if you’re a HootSuite user, check out the built-in reporting in your dashboard — you might find some very useful data there that will help you optimize your posting schedule. Autoschedule is also an excellent way to space your tweets out (to avoid overloading timelines) and publish them at the best possible times (when your tweets have historically achieved the most impact).
]]>By: Alicehttps://blog.hootsuite.com/social-selling-in-b2b-sales-4/#comment-206496
Sun, 10 Mar 2013 20:26:55 +0000http://blog.hootsuite.com/?p=39019#comment-206496I know the experts recommend to writers, one of whom I happen to be, to create a presence on social media but not to be blatantly into self-promo. Unfortunately, some writers apparently have not yet stumbled upon that message. I’m thinking of one in particular who was hogging so much of Twitter space that I ended up unfollowing her. Her really blatant self-promo was extremely intrusive and irritating, which can be said of anyone else trying to connect with potential customers if they overdo it.

Anyone hoping to use social media for the ultimate purpose of marketing needs to use a little common sense (which isn’t really all that common) and a lot of self-restraint to avoid tumbling into the same pitfall.

If you’re interested in learning more tactical social selling practices, check out the social selling webinar on Tuesday, co-hosted by HootSuite’s social selling guru, Julio Viskovitch. Julio will join an all-star social selling team, including LinkedIn’s Ralf VonSosen, for a webinar aimed at practitioners who want to crush their quota. I hope you find this valuable!

Yes, I think that Social Selling does help engage consumers much more effectively rather than the old way of leaving a voice mail that will likely be deleted. Social Networks provide an excellent way for a person or business to establish credibility with their customer. If you can also place video on your Social Network site, you are even more golden when it comes to connecting with your buyer.